Happy Labor Day weekend to y’all. Are you enjoying the long weekend and do you even know why we observe Labor Day? Or do you simply take it as a benefit from your employment?
Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.
Department of Labor
We also celebrate Rosh Hashanah this coming Tuesday 7 September, supporting our Jewish brothers and sisters as they party hard for their new year. Granted we are not Jewish, but that’s irrelevant. We have many Jewish friends and we send our thoughts and best wishes for the New Year.
Date Night & Music
On Friday 27 August, I took my wife on a date. Yes, I like to hang out with my wife, enjoying a meal, some laughter, and some great music. So, we visited the beautiful Bethel Woods Music venue and experienced a true rock legend – John Fogerty.
For those of you who do not know this man, he was the main dude (lead singer, lead guitarist, and songwriter) for the awesome band Creedence Clearwater Revival. They actually played at Woodstock ’69, going on stage just after Grateful Dead.
John Fogerty played all the iconic tunes, entertained the audience with Woodstock stories, had amazing guitar duels with his two sons on stage, and captivated everyone with his vocals.
We had a blast despite the sudden deluge of a downpour. and my wife was surprised by how many of his songs she knew and enjoyed. Now we are a Creedence playlist for the car 🙂
Woodstock ’69 was originally planned to take place in Woodstock NY, but locals objected to the idea. Instead a local farmer near Bethel NY offered the organizers his fields for free. Little did he know that it would be the biggest concert festival with 1/2 million people gathering in the hills – the love revolution event that was experienced around the World; peace, naked people, sex, drugs, and excellent music.
The party did not stop there!
Believe it or not, we went back to Bethel Woods the following Friday, September 3rd, and this time we brought the entire family and some friends. It was party time, and what better way than the king of the party himself; Pitbull.
He’s the crowned Mr. Worldwide party creator, and has released many excellent dance songs, and even more with famous artists.
Pitbull was joined on tour by Iggy Azalea who attempted to warm up the audience. Honestly, I know very little (if anything) of her music, but after seeing her in concert, I also know why.
Without sounding too mean, it was well above PG13 lyrics and dancing. It thought at one point it was the twerking Olympics, or perhaps an attempt to break the record for soft porn dancing. I applauded when her show ended!
Suddenly, the bass started pumping, and the crowd went bananas. The King of Dance music arrived on stage, starting an insane wave of people jumping to the happy music. Sure, some of his lyrics are a little sexual-focused, but the beat and atmosphere overshadow a few butt remarks.
Our girls started jumping and smiling. Our son pointed to the stage and smiled. My Latin wife started to move – some moves I have not witnessed for years, and some new jitters. It was amazing. I cracked open my beer, smiled, and did a little Viking twerking myself.
It was a great evening with family and friends. Plenty of smiling, twerking, and beers.
He brought the party! He created a Latin dance fever! We moved and smiled. My Viking butt twerked to the Latin rythms.
Meal planning for a short week
Back to the main purpose of this blog – meal planning. Despite it being a shorter week, I still want to shop and cook meals that we can reheat easily. I might add a few lunch ideas later, but what I normally do is grill a few chicken options for the family for lunch. They can mix a salad themselves, and chicken is excellent for the kids’ lunches.
I also realized that even the best-laid meal plans are not followed through at times. Something changes during the week. A meal is bigger than anticipated and is split over two nights. That is also why you at times see some dinners reappearing on my food plans.
Simplicity is good. Kids need to learn how to survive the luxury of food options, and more importantly, learn how to prepare lunch. I constantly attempt to persuade them to make food, but they tend to eat cereal, fried eggs, or instant noodles when they have to cook.
Oh well, I failed as a parent although it is never too late to get them involved.
Fire up the Traeger. Ready your Dutch oven. Go shopping, and let’s start cooking—another Sunday in the Kitchen with music on the magical Demerbox and wonderful aromas filling the room.
| Weekday | Snacks n’ Breakfasts | Lunch | Dinner |
| Monday | No school – kids are fending for themselves | Scandinavian sausage pot with mashed potatoes | |
| Tuesday | No school – kids are fending for themselves | Taco Tuesday – | |
| Wednesday | No school – kids are fending for themselves | Shrimp & Spinach lasagne | |
| Thursday | Sliders; chicken and brisket with coleslaw | Chicken green curry with Jasmine rice | |
| Friday | Chicken salad | Most likely BBQ night with the family; meat an salads |
One day, I might get so organized that I will link the meals below to my recipes. We can only live in hope!
Have a fantastic week, my friends. I hope you enjoy these meal plans. It is so much easier to make food in advance, although you need to invest several hours during the weekend to prepare the meals.
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